


Danica

by snp



Series: Introducing Danica [1]
Category: Shameless (US)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-26
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-01-20 20:06:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1523909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snp/pseuds/snp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A post 4x12 fic in which Ian is staying at a psychiatric facility, where he meets a new character (someone I created after the Shameless writers said they'd be adding new people to the show) that he and Mickey become close to.</p><p>*This is mostly just my introducing of the character and her story arc in relation to Ian as well as Mickey, but it'll have a lot of Gallavich, too. Mandy and all of the other Gallaghers will make appearances along the way. Hope you guys like!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

Ian Gallagher was nervous. Especially now that a pair of big, solid white doors were separating he and Mickey Milkovich. _I'm just glad to feel anything at all,_ Ian reminded himself. He turned to look at Mickey one more time and saw with a surge of relief that Mickey had not turned and left yet. He was biting his lip, watching Ian go through the small windows on the doors. Uncurling his balled up fist, the older boy rose up his right hand and waved, just once.  _Go ahead_ , he mouthed, raising his eyebrows and giving Ian one of his trademark half smiles. As he began to wave back, Ian's arm was pulled lightly by a male nurse in navy blue scrubs.

"This way, Mr. Gallagher... You'll be staying a few rooms down," the man said in a soothing yet stern tone. They walked past four doors on each side of the hall, arriving at a tall door with a slate on the side that marked it Room 5A. "Here we go, Ian. You can put all your things down in here and get settled, I'll be back in just a bit to show you around and get you all situated. You taken your morning meds yet?" the nurse asked Ian as he fished a key out of his pocket and opened up the door to reveal a large room that was empty save for two matching twin-sized beds.

"Yeah. Mickey's good about meds and meals and all that," Ian answered, surveying his new home. The nurse looked up from his clipboard and smiled.

"He seems like it, yes, good indeed. It's very lucky you had someone helping you out before you got here," the man said, peering down at Ian through his thick-rimmed glasses. He was older, his head full of gray and black hair. _Not all that different from Ned_ , Ian thought to himself as the man nodded reassuringly and left the room.

Ian decided to check out his room some more and unpack while he waited for the grand tour he was promised.  _More doctors, more rooms with white walls, more group sessions full of sad people... Can't wait,_ he thought as he opened up the door to his closet. Realizing he didn't have all that much stuff to put away, Ian closed the door and picked a different one that he spotted across the room.  _Must be my bathroom,_ Ian thought. He had only cracked it open a few inches when he heard a quiet, surprised noise.

"Oh! Oh, shit! Hiya! Sorry!" A short, dark-haired girl was standing in Ian's bathroom in a light blue towel with an orange toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. She leaned over and spit, then said, "You must be our newbie. And you must be wondering what the fuck I'm doing in your bathroom. Long story short--well, no, I guess it's a short story," she laughed then continued, "I busted my shower head... and my sink... and a few other things in our bathroom and I didn't think you were moving in today so I figured, you know, no harm, and--" she stopped all the sudden, tilting her head to examine the expression on Ian's face. She inspected all of Ian, head to toe, then looked at his face again. "Shit, kid, I'm just now realizing how much it sucks that you're batting for the other team." This won her a short chuckle from Ian, who hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath. He exhaled deeply and then began to introduce himself.

"It's, uh, really fine," he laughed awkwardly. "Anyway, nice to meet you, I'm--"

"Gallagher, Ian Clayton. Yeah, I know. I'm Danica," she interrupted him, beaming.

"What d’you mean you know? How d'you know my name?" Ian asked her.

"Ian C. Gallagher: most likely bipolar, not quite 18, accelerated English scores but no high school diploma or senior year credits, ex-ROTC, hailing from the not so nice side of the tracks of the beautiful Windy City," Danica said all in one breath. "It's all in your file. Except the gay part, which I just guessed."

"My... file? So, what, you work here or something?" Ian said slowly, trying to piece together exactly who this tiny talkative person was.

Danica laughed again, clearly amused. Ian thought she sounded like a child giggling, which amused him in return. "You're not a good guesser, not like I am, Ian Clayton. Here, lemme help ya so we can speed things up. I had a friend hack into the system, when I saw you here the first time with your cute boyfriend, so I could find out all about the new kid before he arrived. I like to know things. So, there ya go," she said, smiling all the while.

"Oh... 'kay then,” Ian said. He paused for a beat and then asked, “What makes you say I'm gay?"

"Easy. That boy you bring with you looks absolutely devastated every single time yous walk into the building. So, he's either family or fucking you. And past the pale skin, you two certainly don't look related to me."

Ian grinned at this response, immediately picturing Mickey. Jet-black hair, not tall but not short either, toned muscles everywhere, tattooed knuckles, straight white teeth. Perfect.  _Shouldn't be possible to miss him this much already_ , Ian thought sadly. He realized Danica was speaking again after a few seconds of mourning.

"Anyways, I'll get out of your gorgeous red hair, and I promise you won't find me naked in your bathroom again... unless you ask," she finished her sentence with a smirk, and just like that Ian was thinking of Mickey again. Flicking her wet hair over her shoulder, the small girl bounded out of Ian's room within seconds. Ian took this moment to get a good look at his bathroom, which now smelled like Pantene shampoo. The girl's toothbrush laid forgotten by the sink. Ian considered going to find her to return it, then thought better of it.  _She's interesting enough, might as well give her the chance to come back and keep me distracted with all that talking she does,_ he reasoned.

He walked out of the bathroom and chose the bed on the left side of the room to flop down on. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, trying to remember Mickey's goodbye word for word, and then he was fast asleep with his boyfriend’s voice playing the same words over and over in his dreams.

"Ay, it’s just a couple weeks. Plus I’m comin’ to visit everyday—I’d like to see those fuckers try and stop me. Then you're outta there, good as new, and everything'll be good. Miss ya already."

 


	2. Two

“Dani, what’d you mean when you said ‘most likely bipolar’?” Ian asked Danica as they threw a tennis ball back and forth to one another in his room. Danica was stretched across the unoccupied bed that was supposed to go to Ian’s roommate. For some reason, he hadn’t been assigned one yet. Nobody had told him what was going on with that, but he wasn’t bothered. Dani had slept over every night except the first after he had arrived at Live Oak, the only mental health institute that had accepted Ian without asking for up front payment. 

“You’re asking me about that now? It’s been, like, four days since that conversation,” Dani replied, pegging Ian in the shoulder with the ball. 

“Hey! Better be careful with me, I’m fragile,” Ian joked. He threw the ball back to her underhanded and softly.

Dani smiled then said, “I meant that they haven’t given you a definitive diagnosis yet. Just a bunch of notes. It’s pretty obvious though.” Ian didn’t say anything, so Dani continued, “I mean, they might not be able to tell you, but that’s what you are. Bipolar. Manic depressive. Whatever ya wanna call it. Just like I am.” Dani was clutching the tennis ball in her hands so tightly that her knuckles were white. Ian got up and walked the few steps across the room to sit on the bed with her. She moved to make room for him and allowed him to gently remove the ball from her grip.

 “So I’m in the same club as you huh? Well, you’re just about the lamest excuse for a welcome wagon I’ve ever seen,” Ian said to her. She didn’t look at him, but he could see her mouth slightly pull up at the corner.

 “When’s Mickey coming?” Dani asked after a long stretch of silence. Ian looked at his wrist, forgetting that they had taken his watch away. _How the fuck does somebody hurt himself with a watch?_ Ian wondered. He turned to look at the clock behind him on the wall.

 “He’s always here by noon. Should be here any second actually. C’mon, let’s head over to the Visitors’ Hall. He don’t like to be kept waiting,” Ian said as he got up and offered Dani a hand.

 

\------------------

 

Ian was almost an entire foot taller than Danica. They walked together, not speaking, purposely bumping together every once in a while- it was their way to remind one another they were still there.

 In the six days that Ian had been there, Mickey had come to see him fourteen times. The first day he’d come three different times, but he usually only came once or twice a day, not that Ian was complaining. Dani was there for ten of his visits, and Mickey had sworn he hated her for the first three. Mickey had called her an “annoying little weed” the first time he met her, because she popped up all over the place and was impossible to get rid of. Ian had laughed, knowing it was true. The thing about Danica, though, was that she grew on you whether you wanted her to or not. _Like a weed_ , Ian thought to himself. Her and Mickey had become fast (or at least fast enough) friends. He didn’t say so aloud, but he especially liked Dani because she kept Ian company. 

Ian looked down at Dani as they rounded the corner that led to what was called the ‘Visitors’ Hall,’ where family and friends of patients could come at any time of day and stay however long they liked. It was like a really cozy version of a hospital cafeteria. There was free food of all kinds, two semi-new televisions, a pool table, an old, white piano, and lots of mismatched tables, chairs, and couches throughout the area. It was the only place in the building that wasn’t prim and proper. Dani pointed at Mickey’s favorite couches in the corner of the huge room and skipped over to them. Ian went to grab snacks, knowing this was Mickey’s lunch break and he’d be starving.

 Heading to their spot, Ian saw that two boys were standing over Dani. People were always talking to Dani. She wasn’t striking like Mandy was, but her features were all soft and small and pretty. The longer you looked at her, the more you wanted to keep on looking. Her skin was an olive color and almost always free of blemishes. She wasn’t thin like Mandy was either. She had all the curves that straight boys liked and then some. She covered herself up a lot, Ian had noticed, always wearing big sweaters and jeans and boots even when they were outside in the summer heat. Her hair was a long, tangled mess of waves that she usually braided down her back. She’d told Ian that she never felt like doing anything fancy with it, so she usually just rolled out of bed and “let it do whatever.” This had reminded Ian of Fiona so much that he’d wanted to scream.

“Hey!” Dani said, poking her head around one of the boys’ shoulders. She had to stand on the couch to see Ian. “Ian, c’mere. This is Zach and that’s Dominic,” she pointed to each in turn. “They live in the room next to yours, 4A.” The boys turned around and took turns shaking Ian’s hand. Ian sat in the bigger couch beside Dani’s small loveseat, placing the bags of chips and fruit cups he’d gathered on the wooden end table next to him, and watched the boys look longingly at her before departing. “See ya later guys!” Dani yelled after them.

“You should make some friends that aren’t me, Ian. I’m not gonna be here forever,” Dani said in a mockingly scolding voice. She even wagged her tiny finger at him.

“I’m not planning on being here forever either, Dani. Besides, why do I need anyone else when you talk enough to make me feel like I’m in a room with about five hundred people?” Ian said back.

 The truth was that he didn’t want other friends for a lot of reasons. First, like he had said, Dani was a handful already, plus he really did feel better whenever he hung out with her. Second, he liked to have only a few close people around him, that’s what he was used to. No need to misplace his trust. Most importantly, he couldn’t help but compare every new person he met to Mickey. And nobody could beat what he had with Mickey.

 Dani slapped him playfully on the arm before grabbing a pineapple fruit cup off the table and tearing the lid off. She ate with her fingers even though Ian had brought back plastic spoons too. _She’s just plain wild,_ Ian thought to himself. Ian added this observation to the list of facts he knew about Danica, which was very short. The only way to find things out about Dani was by spending a ton of time with her and picking up on little things she said and did. She never, ever talked about herself if she could help it. Ian’s eyebrows were furrowed on his forehead as he thought about Dani’s secret life when he saw Mickey push through the door to the Hall.

 

\------------------

 

Danica was up and across the room to meet Mickey before Ian had fully gotten up off the couch. She flung herself at Mickey, wrapping her arms around his chest. He looked over her head and shrugged at Ian, raising his eyebrows as if to say, _Oh well._ Danica unraveled herself from Mickey’s torso and grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him over to Ian. It had been kind of weird the first time Mickey came to visit because the boys were unsure of how to greet each other. Now, though, Mickey just put his arms out and let Ian envelop him for a few seconds. Then they’d sit together on the couch facing Dani’s loveseat.

 “So, sup?” Mickey asked, plopping down on the couch and opening a bag of Doritos. He nodded a silent thank you to Ian as Dani launched into a story about how she found out that Ian’s next-door neighbors were fucking each other.

 “And that’s why they wanted to meet Ian, I guess, because everybody else here is straight,” Dani finished. Ian didn’t even have to look at Mickey to know he was fuming. He heard Mickey crack his knuckles beside him.

 “You tell those fags Ian’s not interested?” Mickey said through gritted teeth. Ian looked over at his boyfriend, unable to contain his grin.

 “They’re not gay, actually, well, I guess…” Dani let her thought trail off before she said, “Zach likes girls and guys. Dunno about Dom, now that you mention it.”

 “Think he’s into girls, too, Danica,” Ian started, “you shoulda seen the way he was drooling over her earlier,” he said, more to Mickey than Dani. This eased the tension a little bit, and Ian felt Mickey relax next to him. Just to be sure, Ian took Mickey’s hand and laced their fingers together. Mickey froze for a second then returned the pressure.

 “What else?” Mickey asked.

Danica apologized, called herself an insensitive asshole, then talked for a whole hour about a million things, avoiding any topic that might set Mickey off. Before leaving for her mid-afternoon round of meds, she kissed Mickey on the top of his head and whispered, “He’s all yours Mick.” She said it as if she was offering them alone time, but what she really meant was to assure Mickey that Ian didn’t want anyone else.

 “Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow, ya fuckin’ nutcase,” Mickey called after her. For the next forty-five minutes, Mickey and Ian just hung out and watched wrestling. Live Oak paid for premium channels, so they watched reruns of Smackdown. Mickey rubbed his thumb over Ian’s fingers the entire time. When Ian started to doze off, Mickey walked him to his room.

“Be back later, a’ight?” Mickey said, standing in Ian’s doorway.

 “Mh-hm,” Ian answered, half asleep. “Miss ya already,” he called out as Mickey walked down the hall.

  
Mickey left with a smile plastered on his face, quietly cursing himself for being so fucking gay.


	3. Three

Dani got outpatient status before Ian did. The way that Live Oak did things was so that once you’d been there a certain amount of time ‘without incident,’ you got to come and go as you pleased, so long as you reported daily for your meds and checked in weekly with whichever specialist was overseeing your case. Dani had officially gone 30 days without incident after Ian’s second week there came to a close.

“I think I’ll go visit Mickey at The Alibi Room,” Danica teased Ian that night.

 “Fuck you,” Ian said. They were sitting cross-legged on the floor playing checkers in the Visitors’ Hall, waiting for Mickey. It was almost 9 o’clock, so the sun had set and almost everyone else had went to bed. Ian was determined to say goodnight to Mickey before falling asleep, but he was still adjusting to his meds and he was always, always tired. “Hey Dani, you’ve been here longer than 30 days haven’t you?”

 “Lot longer than that, yep. Been almost four months. Why d’you ask?” Dani said, curious.

 “Well the whole ‘30 days without incident’ thing got me thinking… what was your incident?”

 “Oh, that. Wasn’t anything, really. Just had a bad day and lost my shit. Happens, y’know,” Dani answered, staring intently at the checkerboard. She jumped two of Ian’s pieces.

Ian uncrossed his legs and stood up, looking down at his friend. She was in a sweatshirt two times too big, and Ian was sweating just looking at her. Her hair was still wet from when she’d left Ian to shower an hour before. She smelled like Pantene, same as usual. “Why do you never fucking _talk_ to me, Danica?” Ian spat, angry for some reason.

Dani looked up at him, confused. “What the hell are you talking about, Ian? All I _do_ is talk to you! What am I doing right now?” Dani got up, raising her voice now. The last three stragglers in the Hall left, wanting to avoid the conflict. That was part of the facility’s therapy, to avoid conflict. Ian had never been good at that and wasn’t about to bother starting it now.

 “You talk but you don’t say anything real. I don’t even know where you’re from! Don’t know your last name, don’t know shit about your family, don’t know why you’re _here_ …” Ian’s anger was fading with every word he said.

Dani was standing with her arms crossed, each hand clutching at her hoodie. Her face was flushed, her cheeks much more pink than usual. She started pacing and didn’t stop until Ian grabbed her by the shoulder and leaned down so that they were eye to eye. “Danica…” Ian said quietly, trying to calm her down. Both of their heads snapped up at the sound of boots scraping toward them.

 “Ay, you two, what’s goin’ on?” Mickey said as he walked nearer to them.

 “Dani’s about to tell us a little bit about herself, aren’t you?” Ian prompted, pushing Dani gently toward their spot. Mickey followed closely behind.

 “You get five questions,” Dani said when they were all sitting and comfortable. Mickey and Ian nodded. Making it a game made it easier on all of them.

 “Fair enough,” Ian said. “I’m going first. Where you from?” he asked. Mickey leaned forward, just as interested as Ian.

 “Chicago… Near North Side.”

 "You—you’re north side? Shit, coulda fooled me,” Mickey said, whistling.

 “It’s more East… There a question in there somewhere, Mick?” Dani said, impatient.

 “Right, yeah. How old are you? Been wondering that from day one,” Mickey said.

 “I’m seventeen. Almost eighteen.”

Ian and Mickey had both thought she was younger, fifteen or sixteen maybe. The boys exchanged glances before Ian took his next turn. “What’s your name—your full name?”

Danica rolled her eyes, took a breath, then said, “Danica Jane Guilardi.”

 “That Italian or what?” Mickey asked.

 Dani nodded. “Two more,” she reminded them.

 “What? Five each is ten and we only used two so—”

 “No, Mick, I didn’t say you each got five. And I’m counting the Italian question,” Dani interrupted.

 Ian could tell Mickey was about to let out a string of creative curse words, so he asked his next question. “What about your family? You have brothers and sisters? Are your mom and dad both in the picture or…” Ian trailed off.

 “My parents are together still. I don’t see much of my dad, he’s… a busy person. I have an older brother, Eli. Nobody else. One more,” Dani said.

 Ian looked at Dani for a long time, feeling bad for invading her privacy. Mickey had a hand on the small of Ian’s back, tracing lazy patterns on his skin. Ian thought about the time, so long ago now, that Mickey wouldn’t be caught dead touching Ian like this, even when nobody else was looking. _How did I ever sit so close to him without touching him?_ Ian tried to remember but couldn’t. Dani looked at the floor, picking at her fingers. The silver ring she always wore on her middle finger was glittering in the Hall’s fluorescent lighting.

 “So that just leaves… how the fuck’d you land in here?” Mickey asked finally. It was the same question Ian had wanted answered.

Danica’s entire body stopped moving. She shot her head up so that she was looking right at the boys. “Faked my death to get away from my boyfriend that my dad set me up with… Dad’s a mob boss so ya gotta do what he says, always, but I couldn’t stay with him, not without showing up all bruised to dinner everyday, so I slit my wrist and here I am,” Dani said, her voice rising and falling in strange places. Silence followed. Dani searched the boys faces for their reactions.

 “Fuck, seriously?” Mickey asked. Ian could hardly breathe, picturing Danica bloody and broken and lying on a floor somewhere.

 Dani was quiet for just a second. “No, not really,” she admitted. All of them exhaled.

 “You’re such a fucking dick sometimes!” Ian said, relieved.

 “So maybe I wanna stay a little mysterious, Jesus, Ian!” Dani said, laughing. “Really, I’m just fucked up because of shitty genetics and it took them a while to figure out the right dosage for me. All good now though,” she told them. 

“Good,” Mickey said, “Really didn’t feel like tracking down your douchebag boyfriend to kill him.”

 

\------------------

 

Danica had a literal open door policy to her room at Live Oak. People were in and out all the time, going to see her or her roommate, Olivia. Today, though, as Ian stood in her doorway, Dani was the only one in the room. He’d come looking for her when she didn’t show up for breakfast or her morning meds. He stared at her for a few minutes as she leaned close to her Mac, typing furiously, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“Woke up and you weren’t there,” Ian said, startling Dani. She jumped away from her laptop at first, then relaxed when she saw it was Ian. “Made me feel kinda like a booty call,” Ian finished, wearing a shit-eating grin.

“Why are you smiling like that’s a good feeling?” Danica asked, amused.

“Reminds me of the beginning, with Mickey,” Ian told her.

“What’re you doin’ out there, waiting for an invite? Get over here,” Dani commanded. Ian obliged, settling behind her on her bed. They chatted for a while about nothing as Dani showed him what she was doing on her computer. It turned out she was scheduling a day to take her GED test. Danica kept several piles of books taller than Ian beside her bed, so he expected her to pass easily. Sometimes he forgot that she’d been here for so long, missing school just like he was. Ian was itching to ask her more questions, wanting to finish last night’s conversation, but Danica started speaking before he could.

“Ian,” she said seriously, shifting so that they were facing each other now, “I’ve been wanting to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“When everyone gets here, they’re usually zombies. Like, breathing bodies being pulled on leashes from one place to another, basically,” she said. Ian just stared at her, waiting for a question to come along. “I mean, you should’ve seen the state I was in…” she laughed nervously before starting again. “Anyway, I just wondered—when I first saw you here, you were signing yourself in. I thought Mickey was the patient, the way he was slumped in the chair…”

“He didn’t want me to come, said he could take care of me,” Ian explained, smiling at the memory of a very protective Mickey that flashed through his mind. Danica didn’t answer, so Ian continued, “I guess I don’t remember it that well, but I was more or less comatose at Mickey’s place. Wouldn’t get out of bed for shit. I dunno what happened, because the day before was one of the best of my life…” Ian was quiet for a minute, remembering Mickey shouting obscenities and slamming his lower half against a cop car, willing to die at his father’s hand, all for Ian. He sighed.

“Anyway, I felt so fucking guilty, for putting Mick in danger and then for not being able to fucking _move_. I was ruining his life and I just couldn’t stop myself. So after a few days of moping around the house, Mickey left me with his sister—you met her, Mandy—and he got his hands on a computer. He’s never told me the specifics, but he showed up that night with Lithium and Zoloft and Prozac… and we tried them all until something switched back on inside me. One day I just felt a little more like myself, and I made him promise to look for some place that could take me. Two days later we found Live Oak and I moved in, like, two more days after that. Some weirdo was in my bathroom the day I got here, actually…” Ian trailed off, laughing.

Dani was speechless, a state of hers that rarely occurred and always surprised Ian. “Dani?” he asked, poking her in the shoulder. This seemed to wake her up. She smiled at him. “I… don’t know what to say,” she admitted.

“The short answer to your question,” Ian said, “is that Mickey brought me back to life. I’ve been trying to get better ever since, so I can get back to him and my family.” Tears were staining Dani’s face. She didn't seem to notice. They wet Ian’s t-shirt as she reached her arms around his neck and pressed her face into his shoulder, hugging him tightly.

“I’ll miss you when you go,” Dani whispered before letting him go. She got up and grabbed a towel from her closet, then walked into her bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Ian heard her shower running a few seconds later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got more already and I'm still writing, but I want to wait to add the rest. I hope whoever's reading, if anyone, will comment and let me know what you think of Dani as well as the fic itself!! Thank you :)


	4. Four

Ian didn’t see Dani for two days. They had an unspoken agreement that Dani would sneak away from her room to sleep in the empty bed in Ian's room at night, and Ian had waited up for her on  _that_ day, the day that he'd seen her cry for the first time, but she never showed. He woke up miserable that morning, instantly wishing he had at least one of his unofficial roommates with him. Since Mickey wasn't an option, Ian went in search for Dani. She wasn't in her room; Olivia told Ian she hadn't seen her since the afternoon before. Ian looked in all of their regular spots, then checked for her throughout the rest of the facility, but Dani wasn't anywhere. She was just gone. 

He asked other patients, nurses, and doctors alike if they knew where she’d disappeared to, but most of them just shrugged.

Mickey told Ian that she’d shown up at The Alibi on the first day, and somehow she had managed to charm Kev into giving her a free 6-pack. She shared the beers with Mickey once he descended from his business upstairs, and the two spent the afternoon together. Danica had walked with Mickey for hours all around the South Side, telling him about each of the people she'd met at the bar. "She warmed up real fast to Veronica," Mickey reported. Dani had asked for a tour of both the boys' neighborhoods, wanting to see their usual haunts, (“I wanna see all the places you and Ian have fucked,” she’d teased) but then she’d gotten on the L and taken it somewhere. Mickey had thought she was going back to Live Oak. He’d even told her he’d catch up with her later, and she’d smiled and nodded at him, letting him think it was true.

When the second day was coming to an end, Mickey was pacing back and forth in front of Dani’s loveseat at their spot in the Visitors’ Hall. “I mean, could be she just went to see her parents, right? Coulda just gone home for the weekend, y’know, like fuckin’ North Side people do,” he was saying to Ian, who was sitting with his head in his hands. After a second he inclined his face so that he was looking at Mickey.

“Mick, she’s probably fine. She’s not breakin’ any rules or anything. Not our problem,” Ian said, closing his eyes, which were getting heavier every second. He was fighting sleep to be with Mickey, not to worry about Danica.

Mickey stopped pacing and came to sit next to Ian. “That’s fuckin’ bullshit, and you know it,” Mickey declared. “Ain’t there anybody here that _has_ to keep tabs on her or whatever?” he asked.

Ian stood abruptly, sticking his hand out for Mickey. Mickey grabbed it and hauled himself up, following Ian wordlessly out of the Hall. The boys walked together to the Main Hall, where they found a plump desk attendant sitting with a clipboard in her hands. She looked up and asked the boys, not unkindly, what they wanted.

“Need to talk to Dr. Schafer,” Ian said, “it’s… important.” The woman raised her eyebrows, seemingly not buying Ian’s “urgency,” but then she picked up the telephone beside her left hand and punched in a few numbers with her chubby fingers.

Dr. Schafer sent for Ian and Mickey to meet him in his office. Two large, burgundy plush chairs were situated across from the doctor’s desk, and the boys took their seats as they waited for him to show up. Mickey drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. It was only a few seconds before the man came in, dressed in the typical white coat and stethoscope attire. He looked exhausted, wearing large bags under his blue eyes. “Mr. Gallagher,” he said as he sat down.

“Hey, Dr. Schafer, look—”

“You’re not going to introduce me to your friend?” the man interrupted Ian.

Ian gritted his teeth before gesturing to the boy beside him and saying, “This is Mickey Milkovich, my boyfriend.” Mickey sucked a breath in, still not used to the word. He simply waved a few of his fingers in the doctor’s direction, not really looking up to meet his eyes. He was chewing on his lip, Ian noticed.

“Ah, I see. What a pleasure to meet the famous Mr. Milkovich,” Dr. Schafer said, rubbing at his eyes. Ian rolled his eyes, then opened his mouth to start speaking again, but was interrupted by the doctor once more. “I’m sure you’re here wanting to know where our Miss Guilardi is. No need to worry—she is safe, visiting with her family at her grandmother’s home in Old Town. She returns tomorrow. And if that’s all, boys, I’ll ask that you get going, alright?” he said, all in one breath.

Ian and Mickey looked at each other before standing. “So she didn’t go home?” Ian asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

The doctor looked up, confused. “Mr. Gallagher, I’m sure you know it wouldn’t be in Danica’s best interests for her to go… there. No, not a very safe decision at all. She knows better. Come on now, you can talk to her tomorrow.”

Mickey, who was edging toward the door, grabbed Ian’s arm and pulled him lightly toward the exit. “Thanks, doc,” the older boy called over his shoulder as they left the office.

 ------------------ 

 

“What the fuck was that about?” Ian said in a hushed voice as he and Mickey made their way toward Ian’s room. 

“Whatcha’ mean?” Mickey asked, seeming distracted. 

“You kidding? All that stuff about her going home being ‘not safe’… I don’t get it,” Ian huffed, visibly frustrated at this point. They had just arrived at his door. 

Mickey pinched the bridge of his nose for a brief moment, then looked Ian in the eyes. “Look, I don’t fuckin’ know what her deal is. All I know is it’s gettin’ late and getting all worked up ain’t good for you,” Mickey opened the door and gestured for Ian to go in. Ian shuffled inside and Mickey followed closely behind, so that they were never more than a few feet apart. 

Ian stood with his arms crossed, stubborn as always. “I’m okay man, you don’t need to—” 

“Jesus, Ian,” Mickey interrupted, “fuck ‘okay,’ you need to get yourself good again, a’ight?” Mickey had taken a water bottle from the mini fridge in Ian’s room and placed it on the small desk next to Ian’s bed. He threw Ian’s covers back then pointed at the bed. “So that means more sleep, less fuckin’ stressin’ about bullshit.” Ian obeyed Mickey’s silent command. He was too tired to fight and he knew Mickey was too. The redhead yanked the jeans he was wearing off in one quick motion, then pulled his shirt over his head and flung it onto the tiled floor of his bedroom. It landed by Mickey’s feet. Ian crawled under his white duvet as Mickey stood over him, brooding. For a long time, the two boys just stared at each other. Then Mickey shook his head, said “fuck it,” and climbed into the bed with his back facing Ian.

Ian draped an arm over Mickey’s side and grabbed for the older boy’s hand, saying nothing. “Night,” Mickey muttered.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's some of the new stuff!  
> I have more, but I want to break it up a bit. It works better that way, I promise. I think I'll post again tomorrow.  
> Hope you guys like! Be sure to let me know what ya think :)


	5. Five

Hot, insistent summer sunlight bled through the window in Ian’s bedroom. It was only the first of May, but Ian was sweating. His freckled skin, which was pressed as tightly as could be against the sleeping body next to him, felt like it was on fire. His survival instincts were begging him to move away from the warmth, to retreat to a cooler place, but Ian ignored them, instead pressing his nose into the crook of Mickey’s neck and getting even closer to him. Ian hadn’t gotten to sleep in the same bed as Mickey in 17 days, so he was enjoying every second of this, knowing it would end as soon as his boyfriend woke up and insisted they start their day.

Ian closed his eyes, listening to Mickey’s breathing. Inhale, exhale, over and over. _Good advice, sleeping beauty,_ Ian thought with a smug smile on his face. Fifteen minutes later, Mickey was making a quiet grumbling noise and stretching all his limbs beneath Ian. He turned over and rubbed at his eyes before opening them and looking up at Ian.

“Hey,” he said in a drowsy voice. Their faces were inches apart.

Ian planted a kiss on the side of Mickey’s head that was closest to his lips. Mickey barely cringed. “I was just thinking…” Ian said slowly, “how my specialist says I should keep to a routine. You know what my daily routine here is?” Mickey was listening to Ian patiently. He waited for Ian to continue. “I start every day with a shower,” Ian whispered, a suggestive smirk creeping across his face. Within seconds, the two boys were out of their boxers and stepping under the cool water running from Ian’s showerhead.

“Haven’t felt this good in forever,” Ian said. And it was true. He was just plain content.

\------------------

Mickey snuck out of the facility without anyone noticing that he’d broken a rule by staying over with a patient, which was “strictly prohibited” on the books but never actually enforced at Live Oak.

Ian had wanted to go with him. He wanted breathe South Side air. He wanted to jump into the makeshift pool that he and his siblings erected each summer. He wanted to spend the morning being scolded by Linda at the Kash and Grab and spend his afternoon working through the obstacle course on the roof of the abandoned building he and Mickey frequented. He wanted to go home for dinner and sit at a table surrounded by the rest of the Gallaghers, plus Kev and V and Mandy and, of course, Mickey. But he had 12 days to go until he attained outpatient status, so he stayed where he was, determined to get better.

When Ian left his room to go and get his morning meds, he was greeted by one of the boys Danica had introduced him to, who was leaving from his room next door. “Hey, Ian, your boyfriend’s pretty hot,” the boy said, laughing nervously. Ian looked at him blankly for a few seconds.

“Oh, uh, guess you saw him leaving today?” Ian asked. The boy nodded at him, smiling like he knew some secret. “Right. Uh, thanks…” Ian had no idea which of the boys this was.

“Zach,” Zach told him.

“Yeah, ’course,” Ian said, only slightly embarrassed, “Zach, I know, I remember.” The boy just kept smiling. He stretched to shake off his sleepiness, the hem of his gray V-neck t-shirt lifting to reveal his happy trail. _Not bad,_ Ian thought to himself, _but not Mickey. Not interested._ He smiled back at the boy and turned on his heel, heading in the opposite direction.

“See ya!” Zach called out. Ian rounded a corner, pretending he hadn’t heard. He was in a hurry to find Dani, and he almost crashed into Olivia in the hallway as he made his way to join the line of patients waiting by the tiny glass window attached to the medicine room. One of the livelier nurses was handing out the cups of water and prescribed drugs that each of the kids got, morning and night, and sometimes in the afternoon.

“Sorry, Liv,” Ian said, breathless, “Didn’t realize I came at rush hour.” Olivia told Ian not to worry, and agreed that the line was especially lengthy today.

“Dunno why it’s taking so long. Maybe we’re getting cupcakes or beer or fireworks!” she suggested to Ian excitedly. Ian hadn’t asked about the specifics, even though he was sure Dani knew, about Olivia’s diagnosis. All he knew was that she was the perkiest girl in the entire facility, rain or shine. She had clapped and cheered when two of the patients began to beat each other bloody last week, calling it a “delight” to be a part of. Dani had laughed so hard at her roommate's comment that she'd made a weird snorting noise and spit the iced tea in her mouth all over the place.

While Olivia continued chattering away, Ian used his height to scan the crowd of residents. In the end, though, it was her child-like giggle that helped Ian locate Danica. Just like that, she was back, talking animatedly to her friend Jade as if she hadn’t disappeared at all. He began to push toward her, apologizing for cutting the line as he went. She was in a red sundress and a long white sweater riddled with tiny holes and dangling strings, one of which she was picking at relentlessly. Her hair was in its usual braid, though one thick strand had come undone, falling on to her left eye and cheek.

Jade had noticed the escaped strand, too. “Oh, Dani, I can fix your hair for you if you’d like. I can French braid and fish tail, you just pick what you want and I’ll do it right back up,” she was saying in her trademark hushed voice. Dani was facing away from Ian, and he saw her grab at her hair tie and shake out her long hair.

“That’s all right, J,” Dani answered in an equally quiet tone as she leaned forward and gathered up her hair to put into a messy ponytail. “I’ve gotta shower right after this. No sense in you making me beautiful just for me to wreck it a minute after, right?” Dani was using her soothing voice. Ian recognized it because that was how she talked to him on his particularly bad nights.

“Don’t be silly, Dani. You know everyone here already thinks you’re beautiful,” Jade said sadly. Ian was right behind Danica now.

“Hey,” Dani whispered, reaching out her hands and placing them on Jade’s shoulders. “You say that like you’re not beautiful, too.” Jade looked down at her converses. “Don’t give these doctors any more reasons to call you crazy,” Dani said, lifting Jade’s freckled face so that the girls were eye to eye. They were opposites—Jade was tall, fair-haired with green eyes and porcelain skin, while Dani was small and all dark—but Ian watched as Danica made this girl see in herself what she had previously only seen in Dani. “Got me?” Danica asked.

Jade smiled so wide it looked like her face would split in two. “Yes,” she answered, a little more loudly than usual.

“Good. You’re up,” Dani informed her, pointing to the window and the nurse behind it who was calling Jade’s name. When Jade turned around, Ian saw Dani exhale deeply, and her whole body seemed to deflate. Ian tapped her on the shoulder and she whirled right around to face him. She looked up, trying to read Ian’s expression, saying nothing. Then she hugged him tightly.

Ian rolled his eyes and returned the embrace. “Welcome back,” he said dryly.

“I had a feeling you’d be pissed,” she mumbled into his chest.

“Only gonna be pissed if you don’t fucking talk to me,” Ian told her.

Dani let go of him and stepped back. She stared at him for a short moment then nodded.

“Okay.” Her hair was already falling out of its ponytail.

\------------------

Ian waited for Dani in her room while she showered. He lay on her bed flipping through her copy of _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ , which turned out to be pretty amusing. He had nothing better to do since Mickey wasn’t coming back until late, and, as Dani had so kindly pointed out, he didn’t exactly have other friends at Live Oak.

Dani emerged from her bathroom in an oversized long-sleeve t-shirt and pajama shorts. She was toweling off her wet hair, which made the entire room smell like Pantene. Ian didn’t mind at all. She sat at the foot of her bed, next to Ian’s feet, slipping dark gray socks on. She looked over at Ian and noticed what he was reading. “Pretty good, right?” she said, inclining her head in the direction of the book, which was open on Ian’s chest. Ian shrugged and made a face as if to say _not bad._

“You should probably be a little quieter,” Ian said, looking over his shoulder at Olivia, who was fast asleep.

“Nah, her meds keep her passed out for hours a time. You could drop a bomb in here and she wouldn’t flinch,” Dani told him.

“Oh,” Ian said, “gotcha.” For a moment, the two just looked at one another in silence. Ian wanted her to be the one to address the figurative elephant in the room, but Dani seemed content to swing her crossed ankles back and forth, examining her hands in her lap, looking anywhere but at her friend.

“Dani…” Ian started.

“I know,” Dani interrupted him. She still wasn’t looking at him. “Out with it, I know. It’s just so silly, y’know, like, not a big deal at all. And I feel like shit for making you worry over nothing.”

“You’re telling me you just up and left for two days without saying a word to me ‘over nothing,’ then?”

Dani scrunched up her face before putting it in her hands. She lifted them after a few seconds and finally faced Ian. “It was just… random. My mom called—Dr. Schafer, not me—she wanted to see me, said she’d meet me at my Nana’s house, so I went.” Ian didn’t say anything, which prompted Dani to continue. “I was so mad at first, though, y’know? Livid, really. She summons me and I’m supposed to just… just fucking go? So I let her wait. I went the only other place that I knew I’d find a friendly face, to see Mickey—and, oh my god, Ian, I felt… I don’t even know,” she was rambling, staring at the wall. “If I get out of here, I’m gonna live on the South Side and ride the L and never put on a bullshit act again, I swear…” she trailed off for a moment, then began again. “When I finally showed up to my Nana’s, well, I’d missed dinner, so my mom begged me to stay another night. I meant to call you, Ian, but she just sucked me back in. I’m such a sucker for her shit…” Dani’s eyebrows were pressed tightly together on her forehead.

Ian grabbed her hands, which were knotted in her lap. “Quit making that face,” he commanded. “And… you don’t have to tell me any more. Just tell me you’re okay.” Dani kept staring straight ahead, but she broke her hands apart and used them to squeeze Ian’s.

“Of course I’m okay. I told you, it was nothing,” she answered. Before Ian could say anything else, Dani yawned. “Can we nap? I’ve got train lag.”

“That’s not a thing, Danica. You didn’t even leave the state!” Ian laughed.

“Whatever,” she said smiling, “I don’t need an excuse to be exhausted. Sick people are always tired.”

Ian agreed and the two of them settled in. Ian started reading aloud from where he’d left off in _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_. “This planet has…or rather had…a problem, which was this,” Ian read in a dramatic tone, “most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much all of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper… which was odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mention and quote the novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" a few times in this chapter. I think I'm supposed to say something about how I don't own or have any rights to that particular work, which is part of a series written by the lovely Douglas Adams.
> 
> So, now that I've said that, I'd like to also say that the next few chapters will have appearances from Mandy and a few of the Gallaghers finally :) I'm looking forward to having Ian back out in the real world, and I hope all of you reading are too! Please keep letting me know what ya think guys.


	6. Six

Mickey pushed through the heavy front doors of Live Oak that night a few minutes shy of nine o’clock. The nurses in the reception area, all of whom were familiar and friendly with Mickey by now, allowed him to be buzzed right through the next set of doors without asking him to sign in with the desk attendant as protocol usually required. He didn’t know why, but he was too tired and anxious to see Ian to ask any questions. He was about to make his way to the Visitors’ Hall when he almost bumped into a redheaded boy that could only be Ian slumped in a chair right outside the doors. Ian popped up at the sight of his boyfriend.

“Finally,” he said, standing and reaching out both his arms to bring Mickey toward him.

“I told ya, I got in late—thanks to you, man—and Kev busted my balls all day. Had to stay a little later than normal. Looks like you survived, though,” Mickey replied after disentangling himself from Ian’s grip and getting a good look at him.

“Barely,” Ian said, grinning.

“Yeah, yeah. So why’re you out here? Couldn’t bare to wait the few more seconds it woulda taken me to get to ya?” Mickey asked, tugging Ian by the hand toward the Hall.

“Pretty much, yeah,” Ian admitted. “So, whatcha in the mood for? The institute just got a bunch of Sun Chips in stock today.”

“Sun Chips are for pussies,” Mickey told him.

“Only you would put fucking chips into categories,” Ian rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance. Mickey wore his best shit-eating grin as they each got comfortable in their usual spot in the corner. Dani’s loveseat was vacant, as was the rest of the Visitors’ Hall. Ian caught Mickey glancing at the conspicuously empty couch. “She’s back. Been sleeping practically all day though.”

“Forreal? So ya didn’t get to talk to her?” Mickey asked, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.

“No, I did. Just didn’t get much outta her… She got all hyped up—she did that rambling thing she does, you know what I’m talking about,” Ian paused and Mickey nodded, so he continued, saying, “She seemed worn the fuck out, so I just told her to forget it. She promised she’s okay, which I don’t buy for a second, so I think now she’s just sleeping off whatever it was.”

“Shit’s nuts,” Mickey said after a moment. He shook his head, and Ian noticed a worry line was creasing his boyfriend’s forehead. “I dunno what, but somethin’s up with your friend.”

“ _Our_ friend,” Ian corrected him. “But yeah, you’re right. Now we just gotta figure out what—”

“No way, Gallagher,” Mickey interrupted. “Just ‘cause you’re a nosey little busy body don’t mean I’m helpin’ you butt into—”

Now it was Ian that was interrupting. “What else am I supposed to do trapped in here? Dani’s the only interesting person here and, like I already said, she’s our friend. We should help her.”

Mickey sighed, exhaling deeply, then cracked his knuckles. Ian knew he had won this one. “If you say so, man. How many days you got left anyway?” Mickey asked, grabbing the remote and flicking through the channels on the nearest TV.

Ian settled in closer to Mickey so that their shoulders and arms were touching. “Eleven,” Ian said with a smirk growing across his face, “Which you already knew. Let’s not pretend like you don’t have a countdown going.”

Mickey could feel Ian’s eyes on him, but he didn’t answer. _Got me there, firecrotch,_ he thought to himself. His mouth turned up slightly on one side.

\------------------

The next day was an eventful one for Ian. Though each of his siblings had been to Live Oak at least once respectively, he could hardly breathe when he heard that they had finally come upon a day that all of them could come together. He was excited to show them how much better he was doing, knowing that the periodic phone calls they exchanged weren’t enough proof of his wellness. He woke up hours earlier than usual, even though he’d been up late the night before with Mickey, and straightened the few items he had in his room to make it look nice before showering, eating, and getting his round of morning meds. By 8:30am he was practically bouncing in his seat in the Visitors’ Hall with nervous energy.

He saw Debbie first, her red hair as unmistakable as his own. Her ponytail swung quickly back and forth behind her as she and Ian locked eyes and she began running toward him with the rest of the Gallagher clan, plus Mandy, trailing not far behind. “Ian! Ian!” she called to him. He stood up and walked to meet her, opening his arms. When she got to him, Ian picked her up and spun her around in his arms, hugging her too tightly.

“Hey, Debs,” he mumbled into her shoulder. His eyes were closed and they were still spinning.

“I can hardly breathe but I don’t care, I’m so happy to see you! Are you good? I mean well, it’s well, we keep learning that in school—are you well? Put me down and let me look at you!” Debbie said at hyper-speed.

“Yup, I’m _well,_ ” Ian told her as he released her and set her on the ground. By now the rest of his siblings and Mandy had reached them and were standing by quietly with smiles on their faces. All of them were dressed in their routine summer gear: Lip in rolled up khaki-colored jeans and Chuck Taylor’s; Fiona in jean shorts and a tank top with her hair tied in a messy bun; Debbie in glittering halter top and a probably-too-short skirt; Carl in a hand-me-down wife-beater that used to belong to Ian and cargo shorts that might have been Kev’s at one point; Mandy in black everything—tank top, shorts, combat boots. Ian noticed that Lip’s knowing smile faded quickly into a questioning look, as if to ask permission to come closer or something.

“What’re you waiting for, you guys?” he said, aiming a _come on now_ look at his older brother. Lip stepped forward immediately, embracing Ian with a loud clap of his hands on his back. “Look at you, man, good as new, huh?” Lip said when he pulled back. Ian thought he looked genuinely happy.

“Thanks to this place, yeah,” Ian agreed. Then, “Fi? Carl?”

Fiona and Carl hugged Ian together, Fiona whispering soft encouraging words into Ian’s ear as Carl launched into a thousand questions by Ian’s torso that just sounded like murmurs to Ian.

“One at a time, bud,” Ian told Carl with a laugh. When the three of them were disentangled, Mandy hugged Ian quickly, kissed his cheek, and then punched him on the shoulder and called him a douchebag, because that was the way they did things.

Carl was still talking. “It’s just weird that he isn’t here. Isn’t he always with Ian?” Ian finally turned his attention back to his little brother. “Where’s Mickey?” Carl asked.

“Oh,” Ian said, barely blushing, “he isn’t _always_ here, dude. Right now I’d guess he’s at work,” Ian said, looking to Mandy for confirmation. She nodded.

“Man,” Carl said, “he was supposed to show me all the ways to make a shiv next time I saw him.”

“Why ask Mickey when you know I carry a shiv with me, like, at all times?” Debbie asked Carl, placing her hand on her hip.

“Yours sucks, and I wanna know how to make ‘em out of all different crap, not just the usual tooshbrush or pen or whatever,” Carl informed her.

“Fair enough,” Debbie conceded.

Ian was content to listen to his siblings go back and forth all day. It felt so normal. Fiona and Lip were talking to one another in hushed tones, probably discussing whether they thought Ian was really okay or not, and Mandy was standing closer to the kids, just smiling at Ian.

“Where’s Liam?” Ian asked Mandy.

“Staying with Kev and V for now… as if those two don’t have enough little kids to deal with,” Mandy said with her customary smirk on her face. Ian missed his littlest brother but figured he’d see him soon enough. _Ten more days_ , he told himself.

Ian cleared his throat. “Guys, come sit,” he said, gesturing toward the set of couches and chairs in the corner that he usually used with Dani and Mickey. He had a pile of snacks on the nearest table waiting for all of them. The four Gallagher siblings squished onto the bigger couch, Ian sat on the couch he always shared with Mickey, and Mandy was perched in Dani’s loveseat, which Ian thought was fitting. “So,” he said once everyone was settled and food was handed out, “what’s new?”

\------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been MIA you guys-- I started my summer class and work got super busy so I haven't had the time to update. Hopefully I'll be able to post a bit more this weekend. Hope you're still reading and you still like this :)


	7. Seven

Ian wasn’t surprised at all when Danica met and instantly won over all of his siblings. He thought Carl might be tricky, but when Dani mentioned that she could pick a lock with absolutely anything, he saw his little brother’s trademark devilish smile spreading across his face, and he put Dani to work proving herself. They must have unlocked more than ten different doors with random objects that Carl handed to her before he finally gave up and conceded that she was pretty good.

“Done for now,” he told her, “but I’ll come up with something.” She’d told him she was game, any time, any place. He smiled at that answer and then walked over to sit by Ian to quietly ask how old she was.

“Too old for you, dude,” Ian whispered in response.  What happened next was what did surprise Ian. He had heard Mandy laugh, loud and genuine, and turned to see why. Standing by the vending machines was Mandy, and strangely enough, Danica. His two best friends aside from Mickey and Lip. He wondered aloud what they could possibly be bonding over, because even though _he_ knew all the ways they were similar, it was really odd for Mandy to get along well with other girls.

“Yeah, fuckin’ weird,” Lip agreed as soon as Ian finished his thought. Lip sounded confused, and Ian was too, but he was also impressed. He knew for sure that something was going on with Danica, and yet here she was, putting on a show for Ian’s family, telling them how jealous she was of his speedy recovery, promising to teach Debbie some cool new ways to braid her rebellious hair, getting in good with Lip and Fiona (and earning a free pass to come and visit the Gallagher house whenever she wanted), making Carl fall a little bit in love with her, _and_ somehow befriending Mandy of all people. “I like her, though, man. I’m glad you got someone in here with you,” Lip said, bringing Ian out of his reverie. His brother was still staring at Dani and Mandy too.

“What’s up with that?” Ian asked, turning away from the girls and looking at his brother.

“With what?” Lip still had his sight trained on the same spot.

“You two,” Ian said in a _duh_ kind of tone. “She doesn’t tell me, says I don’t need any extra stress and uh, in her words, “it ain’t anyone’s fucking business anyways,” but—”

Lip cut his brother off and said, “It’s nothing, Ian. She didn’t say anything cause there’s nothing to say.”

“Yeah, that sounded real convincing,” Ian said pointedly, “and even if your mouth could lie better, that wouldn’t explain why you haven’t stopped staring at her this entire time.” That comment was enough to make Lip’s head snap quickly in Ian’s direction so that he was facing his brother now, eyes wide and clearly pissed off. “Hey, I’m just using what they teach us in therapy, alright. ‘Eyes don’t lie,’ they say. Say that all the fucking time.”

“Shut up,” was all he said. Ian laughed and clapped him on the back. “Douchebag,” Lip added. The girls were walking back now, rejoining the rest of the Gallagher clan on the couches, but Ian was looking at his brother, searching his face. And unfortunately for Lip, his eyes really couldn’t lie. He looked torn up.

“I know the feeling,” Ian said after a few silent seconds. His tone was suddenly stark and serious. Lip’s anger had faded quickly, replaced by worry.

“Yeah, yeah I know you do. Speaking of that, where’s your thug boyfriend at anyway? Supposed to be here by now, right?” Lip asked, grabbing Ian by the shoulders and steering him toward the others.

Ian looked up at the big clock that hung over the double-door entrance to the Visitors’ Hall and saw that it was twenty minutes after noon, which meant that Lip was right, and Mickey was late. Ian wanted to feel happy. He knew he should be grateful that he was surrounded by his family and that Mandy was here too. But that wasn’t the way this whole bipolar thing worked. He sat down next to Carl on the biggest couch, the one facing the loveseat that Danica and Mandy were sharing. Fiona reached over and grabbed his hand, which was resting behind Carl’s head after he had draped his arm across the back of the couch. He squeezed it and smiled at her, but he could tell from the look on his sister’s face that she knew. It seemed like everybody did, actually.

“What were you two laughing about?” Ian blurted out. Dani was doing the same eyebrow thing that Mickey usually did, with one all high up on her forehead and the other scrunched up, and he knew this was her silent way of asking _what’s your deal right now?_ but instead of acknowledging her, he looked to Mandy.

Mandy looked up to Danica, who was seated on the arm of the chair they were sharing, and back to Ian. “Just trading some horror stories,” Mandy said in her easy, carefree manner. “Never had anyone else who gets how fuckin’ lame you are, but she does,” Mandy finished, gesturing over her shoulder toward a grinning Danica.

“Yup,” Dani said in agreement. “Mandy was just thanking me for taking you off her hands. I told her she owes me now.”

Ian was quiet for a beat and then smiled a big, sincere smile. “Fuck you both,” he said. He hoped they both knew that what he couldn’t say was how thankful he was for lightening the mood again. Everyone resumed talking, and Ian did feel better, especially since Fiona kept her hand over his, lightly tracing squiggles and zigzags over his skin with her short nails. Then, finally, Ian saw Mickey walking toward them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody!  
> I didn't realize that people were still reading this or keeping up with it, but I'm glad that some of you are :) Here's the next segment I had and I actually have a bit more if anyone's interested, so I'll be posting that as well.  
> Sorry that it's so late- I was on vacation just recently and before that I had a lot of summer coursework that I was busy with. Anyway, hope you guys like this. Thanks so much for reading, lovelies.


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